When it rains . . .
Wood ends victory drought with style by john rohde When you haven’t won a golf tournament in 16 years, 29 days and 309 starts on three different pro tours, you find out who your friends are. Longtime Edmond resident Willie Wood always knew where he stood, however, because those friends never disappeared. So when the former Oklahoma State standout ended his title drought and won the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open on the Champions Tour on Aug. 19, reaction was swift and substantial. There were 190 text messages on Wood’s cell phone when he returned to his locker at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y. “They just kept coming,” Wood said. “I was retrieving them and they kept coming.” After catching a 5:40 a.m. flight to the tour’s next stop at the Boeing Classic, 40 more messages greeted Wood when he touched down in Seattle. Many texts came from longtime friends, while others remain 32 •••••• www.golfoklahoma.org
unknown because well-wishers forgot to identify themselves. Other congratulations came via e-mail, which Wood tried to answer. Members at his home course of Oak Tree National couldn’t stop smiling. Cheers echoed through the clubhouse as they watched Wood claim victory on television. “The response was overwhelming – literally, the true sense of overwhelming,” said Wood, who turned 52 on Oct. 1. “When you’re 50 years old, chances are you’ve gone through some bad times in your life. I’m not alone in having struggles, not only in golf but in my personal life, too. I have a lot of friends who have called, and I’ve called them. When things happen to friends, you call them. You try to help them, even if it’s just listening to them. I’ve had a lot of nice, close friends do that for me.” Although longtime friend and OSU teammate Bob Tway tied for 54th and finished 15 strokes back in the same event, he was
among the many who reveled in Wood’s triumph. “It’s one of the most popular victories I can ever recall in my years on tour,” Tway said. At the next stop after Wood’s victory, Tway crossed paths with Michael Allen, the man Wood beat on the first playoff hole to claim the title. “I looked at him (Allen) and he smiled and said, ‘It’s OK. I’m happy for him, too,’ “ Tway said with a chuckle. With his head still spinning from his victory, Wood nearly won three straight Champions events. He finished third the following week at the Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash. After draining a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 17 in the final round, Wood admitted: “I was smiling and got to thinking, ‘I’m about to do it (win) again.’ That really would have been something.” Wood needed an eagle on the final hole to get into another playoff, but